I am somewhat sad today. Today is the day I replaced my anti virus program from my long time favorite Avg anti virus . It was like having to say goodbye to an old friend. Why did I replace something that has proven itself to be dependable and reliable after all these years? It is because the latest version Version 8. Just isnt up to AVG's usual high standards. For starters the memory usage has increased dramatically. version 7.5 used to use about 2 megs while idle and version 8 uses over 30. Their new link scanner which seems like a good idea has caused slowdowns and browser crashes, and it has compatability issues with another favorite program I use called Threatfire from PCtools . A google search has revealed that I am not the only one having these problems. My search for a free replacement brought up many possibilities but the one that consistantly got good reviews was Avira free and I am pleased to say it has been working flawlessly. I must admit I miss my old friend and found comfort in seeing that AVG icon in the taskbar; ,so Avg please give us a nice lean new version of AVG free so I can once again welcome my old friend back into my system.

Ok lets talk about solar energy. I feel it is a resource that is far far underused. Think about this; if the roof of every house, apartment, and business was covered in solar panels I think it could change the world. You might be saying oh please how can that change the world, well curious readers let me tell you my thoughts on this. If every structure had solar panels on  it would reduce our energy needs ,true, but lets take it a step further. Say everyone of those buildings had their own battery storage array; now even when it is not very sunny they can have a reserve of power to make up the difference further reducing our energy needs and reliance on fossil fuels. Lets take another step;  say everyone was also tied into the energy grid and any energy they do not need gets transferred to the grid to get stored in big energy storage banks and shuffled around to those who have a need for it. Ok now that reduces our needs on fossil fuels even further, but we can take this another step further.Are you ready? say every house had an electric vehicle charging station and every apartment parking space had a charging station  and we all used electric vehicles for our day to day needs   nowthat would put a huge dent in our dependence on fossil fuels. Now what are some of the other benefits of such a system? It would spark a great deal of research and development into new solar panel and battery technologies making the panels more efficient and the batteries smaller and more powerful; which would also spark the development of new and better quick charging technologies. Which would give us vehicles which were more powerful and with a greatly increased range and the ability to charge them quickly from charging stations for improved practicality. Imagine this, school busses, city busses even the greyhound busses all with these high capacity  quick charging batteries  on board and high efficiency solar panels on their big flat roofs. Lets add to that the city utility vehicles, police and rescue vehicles even the postal service trucks all running on electric power. Now you might be saying surely you can't run all vehicles on  electric power what about those big diesel trucks? they have to be able to haul a lot of weight. Well electric engines have a lot of torque which is what those big rigs needs to get all that weight moving and hauling it uphill and most of the trailers have those long flat tops making the ideal spot for more solar panels and plenty of room underneath for energy storage.  "Ok ok I can see how that might work but what about trains? there is a lot of freight carried by trains." , you ask. Oh I wouldn't forget about trains. I love trains and would like to see a renewed interest in train travel.  Have you ever looked at train engines? Those big, wonderful, powerful diesel-ELECTRIC engines? why not make them electric only? Every car ( passenger and cargo) can have a energy storage array underneath and solar panels on top. When they are attached to the train they plug into the rest so the longer the train the more energy storage it has access to and the more panels for charging it can use. Lets not forget with all this new solar panel and battery technology being used there will also be a lot of research into making better electric motors. These will be smaller,lighter, more powerful and more efficient then anything we have today. The thought of a light weight two hundred horsepower electric motorcycle with a four hundred or more mile range just puts a smile on my face. We could be a country free of any dependencies on fossil fuels. We can have a greener future and most importantly our children can have a future where they don't have to worry about energy or global warming or even having to wear a mask just to be able to breathe when they go outside.

I love riding my bicycle. Is it because I have a fancy expensive bike? No, actually it has a few problems; not the least of which I only have about 4 gears that it will actually stay in, the front reflector tends to flop from side to side depending on which way the bike leans, and the back brake won't stop you at anything above walking pace, but you know what? I don't care. I love the free feeling I get when I am cruising down the road. No matter what problems arise in life I can get on my bike and ride and after awhile things don't seem to bad and I am pleased to see more people riding bikes these days. It may be just because the cost of gas is so high, it may be more people find it a great way to exercise, some may even have a car that is not working and that is their only means of transportation. Whatever the reason they are out there and that is good. Now I have started to wonder how to get the most everyday use out of biking; how to best do things like running errands, grocery shopping, taking in the recycling just everyday things. The best all around answer for most people I have seen seems to be a bike trailer. There are an amazing amount of trailers out there. One wheel and two. and most of them are really good quality, but what I am looking at is a day to day trailer. One I can leave hooked to my bike while I run into a store and know that everything will still be there when I get back. I have spoken with some riders who say they have never had a problem with things being taken off their trailers, but I am also reminded of something my dad once told me; locks keep and honest person honest. You put to much temptation in front of some people and they won't be able to resist; so I went looking for a good solid simple trailer that that is lockable and I came across BicycleR Evolution bike trailers they make a good simple design to which you can mount a lockable Rubbermaid action packer onto. I personally own a small action packer that I have carried around with me for years loaded up with books and magazines. I have used it as a stool, a seat, storage, a last minute ice chest and even a quick camping gear storage container strapped to the back of my scooter when a spur of the moment camping trip presented itself and it has always held solid, never complaining and to this day it is still in one piece and fully functional; so I know it will be great on a bike trailer. Now BicycleR trailers are not the only one out there who makes a good trailer but so far they seem to have the best design for a day to day trailer. There are other options out there but I will talk about those another time. Have a good day everyone.

well here again it has been a very long time since I wrote anything here. well to be honest I kinda forgot about this. I just came across this while doing a little research into social networking.  Well a little update I have been doing some web work for a friends store. it has been interesting. I went into it not really sure what all I was doing but I have been learning more and more and time goes on. Check out the stores and see what you think. If you are looking for musical instruments you should check out this one NCG1stopshop.net  if you want to find all sorts of good quality miscelaneous stuff at amazing prices you can go to this one NCG1stopshop.com  if you are looking for some unique collectables and one of a kind items you can even check out this shop Normas collectable gift  you have got to check out the grandfather clocks there. they are hand made one of a kind and i have seen them in person and the craftsmanship is amazing.  well thats what I have been up too lately. I will try to make the time to update this more often. I did enjoy writing here for the few that read it :-) . so peace to you and have a good day.

Well hello again it has been quite a while since I have written anything on here. To be honest I forgot all about it untill I installed an old hard drive I had laying around to test a different operating system and found a reference to it in an old text file. well a little update my son is doing well. His autism seems to be more pronounced at times , but still I wouldn't change him ; he is the person he was born to be and I love him just the way he his. I had some good friends that lived pretty close but they ave since moved to another city. They were a young female couple and just all around good people. I know some still think that it is wrong for two women to be together as a couple but in all honesty I have to ask why? and please don't give me the God doesn't agree with it line. I have heard it used many times for lots of different things and untill he himself tells me that he thinks it is wrong then I just have to believe he is ok with it. A good person is a good person regardless of what they do or don't like and love is love' it is not conditional or biased. When you love someone you love who they are not what they look like, what gender they are where they are from thier age or anything else like that. Love is love and that is all there is too it. Well now it is a nice day today and my son just smacked me with a water noodle so I think it might be time to go to the pool. have a good day all.

Hello again and how was everyones fourth this year? Mine was pretty good. Our new apartment doesnt have the premium view of the fireworks that our old one had and I just didnt have any desire to fight traffic for an hour just to get home. so this year with my son on my shoulders I stood in the parking lot and we could see the tops of the fireworks display, and you know that was ok. While I like the big fancy displays and feeling the thundering boom in my chest from the oudest ones to me the fireworks symbolize the freedoms we share in our great country. I know not everything in this country is fair or makes sense, but it is still one of the best countries there is and we still ebjoy more freedom then anyone else; so to me wether it is a multi million dollar diplay or a handfull of people gathered around a lone sparkler I know that this great country is still going strong.

toay I want to talk about something that is bugging me. its all the new laws keeping someone from modifying some electronics they have bought. The most recent thing I have heard about is modding Microsofts x-box. Theres a bunch of things you can do to one, but in so doing you could be breaking the law. Now why would opening one up and adding a larger hard drive be illegal? you can add a larger hard drive and different software to your computer and it doesnt break any laws ( not yet anyway) so why does it with the x-box? it is basically just a computer optimized for gaming. after all you buy an x-box ( and other things as well) you didnt rent it. The manufacturers should be happy that people find new things to do with thier products. it keeps the demand up and if they see a particular mod that is quite popular then they can add it to thier next product upgrade. come on people where is this going to end? will it soon be againt the law to modify your own computer, how about your car? they have computers in them now. manufacturers please realize that one of the big contributing factors to a products longevity is its ability to be moddified and personalized to the individual person. People are going to stop buying products if they are made to feel like they are only renting it. that its not completely thiers to do with as they see fit; even though they spent thier hard earned money on it. If this continues we may see a increase in rental stores and slowing sales of new products and the aftermarket suppliers will feel the hit as well. PLease understand I am not advocating ignoring the law and doing what you want. we need laws to keep society from falling apart, but lets have fewer of these laws that make people feel as if they dont really own the products they actually spent thier money to buy. have a good day all.